Is Al Jazeeraa anti USA?

[Jim Nickerson]

Re: Is Al Jazeeraa anti USA?

Religion, especially monotheistic religion, has been the downfall of mankind. But we are stuck with religion on Earth, so we will all have to learn to live with each other --- regardless of our religions.

And I am just as upset as you are about the insertion of creation NON-SCIENCE into the K-12 public school curriculum in the United States. Again, one can thank the religious-right in the Bush Administration for this sad state of affairs in the biology curriculum.

Somehow, the so-called liberals in the U.S. forgot to speak-up about a lot of things in the hidden agenda of the Bush Administration: i.e, unilateral diplomacy (aka, cowboy diplomacy by the U.S.), supplyside economics, the easy-money and pro-inflation Bush appointees to the Federal Reserve Board, education policy and the No Child Left Behind Act, English-only school policies and their bigotry, the insertion of creationism in the school curriculum, top-down control of the public schools from Washington, the outrageous nationalism taught to children through the public school curriculum, the do-nothing ( or cowboy capitalism ) heathcare policy, the Christian-right appointees to the Supreme Court, the abuse of civil liberties in the Patriot Act, free trade ( or the lack of free trade for workers and immigrants), the do-nothing ( more of the same windmills and Hummers ) energy policy by the Bush Administration, the military spending policies of the Bush Administration, etc.

With these issues, why have the Democrats been so silent for all of these years?

Liberals need to speak-out now, not just in Kansas against creationism alone, but everywhere in the U.S, and everywhere against all of these outrageous policies of the Bush Administration.

The system is broken, and we are broke.

[Finster]

Re: Is Al Jazeeraa anti USA?

Every news organization has its biases - rooted in the culture in which it operates - and no one should even expect or assume that they are ever getting "just the facts" without color. Every news organization also gets its financial support from somewhere, whether its a state, corporate sponsors, owners, or whatever. Some make a point of distinguishing between fact and opinion, but if anything, that just amplifies the potential to mislead.

Even when "nothing but the facts" are reported, there was still the invisible, a priori question of which facts to report. And how to report them. Just a couple hypothetical examples to illustrate:

The XYZ Nightly News anchor appears on your TV screen and in gravely intones, "Congress once again has failed to pass legislation guaranteeing free day care for every child in America." Possibly with background images of waifish, neglected-looking children eating peanut butter sandwiches while mother is out on the job. Anything in here false or non-factual? No. They could literally report every day that "Congress once again has failed to pass legislation guaranteeing free day care for every child in America." and it would be objectively, factually true. Is there an implicit agenda? We report, you decide.

Jesse Jackson gives a speech at a dinner in Tuscon, which serves as a source of quotes for all the major network news shows, including the morning info-tainment hour. Alan Keyes speaks at a conference in Cinncinnati, and nobody knows about it except the conferees. And no one wonders why one person speaks and it's news and another one does and it's not.

Your favorite soap opera is interrupted with one of those ubiquitous newsy tidbit "news breaks" to let you know that the latest ACME news poll reveals that after the previous evening's Republican presidential debate involving 10 candidates, 23% of college-educated women between the ages of 45-49 in Toledo and Phoenix who are former high school basketball team members and of Race X and who were polled during the third week of January, 34% prefer McCain, 32% prefer Guiliani, and 13% prefer Romney. And then that of this group, 41% thought that Guiliani had the best chance of prevailing over Hillary, and that 43% thought that McCain had the best chance of prevailing over Obama. Never mind that there were 7 active candidates on the Democratic slate. Fifteen minutes later after you've changed channels and forgotten all about it, another "news break" reminds you that X% of a different group of voters think McCain will be best for national security, Y% thought Clinton would be best on the economy, blah blah blah ... pounding the same three or four names into your head yet again. Just the facts, right?

[DemonD]

Re: Is Al Jazeeraa anti USA?

i wonder if al jazeera will play the movie put out by that dutch politician guy.

[Guest]

Re: Is Al Jazeeraa anti USA?

Fat chance. Notwithstanding their high journalistic standards, they don't do a whole lot of self-criticism. That's left for us to do in the West.

[metalman]

Re: Is Al Jazeeraa anti USA?

Fat chance. Notwithstanding their high journalistic standards, they don't do a whole lot of self-criticism. That's left for us to do in the West.

what if they way to air self-criticism but their audience can't take it?

[Rajiv]

Re: Is Al Jazeeraa anti USA?

I don't see TV media in the US do much in the way of self criticism e.g. Fox News, CNN, ABC, CBS or NBC --- show me any degree of self criticism there.

[Finster]

Re: Is Al Jazeeraa anti USA?

I don't see TV media in the US do much in the way of self criticism e.g. Fox News, CNN, ABC, CBS or NBC --- show me any degree of self criticism there.

All you need do is pay attention. The US media are self-absorbed to the point of narcissism. Examples abound. On the Sunday morning news shows, you will often hear discussions devoted solely to how the media are handling this or that issue. There are even entire series dedicated to media analysis. Here's just one: http://www.gwu.edu/~kalb/.

Not that they ever actually address their real shortcomings...

[Rajiv]

Re: Is Al Jazeeraa anti USA?

You will notice that the Kalb report dosen't make it on to any of the TV media mentioned in my post --

From your Link

The Kalb Report airs on New England Cable News and is distributed to public television stations nationwide by Oklahoma Educational Television Authority and American Public Television.

I was not by any stretch of imagination trying to imply that the US is bereft of self-criticism -- only that TV news channels which provide a similar kind of service to the US viewers as Al Jazeera does to the Middle East, do not engage in much self criticism

[Guest]

Re: Is Al Jazeeraa anti USA?

Speaking of self-criticism, here in the (now seriously retrograde) USA, critiqueing our own glorious culture is apparently alive and well. Here is one of my favorite posts of all time on this website. iTulip's most "delicate" commentator weighs in ...

[ Warning: don't try this at home - if you live in the M.E. This kind of agnosticism would cost you your head faster than you could say "hey get off my back Dude", let alone "Jack Robinson". ]

if i found a teacher trying out creationism on my kids i'd drag him onto the street and beat him to death with a rock. that's how they did it in the days when creationist ideas were current. good enough for them, good enough for him.

seriously, i'd bomb that area of that country all the way back to the stone age... versus partially... where it's at.

seriously, no, i'd try to reason with them, i would... then i'd stone and bomb them.

aw, fuck it. i'd lock them in a room and make them watch daytime tv until what's left of their brains drip out of their skulls.

[Raz]

Re: Is Al Jazeeraa anti USA?

I am an Orthodox Christian. The Church was born into the Roman world, a pagan society in which charity was as rare as gold. While I would never support forcing Creationism into any school's curriculum, I do have some real problems with the theory of evolution. I am also politically Conservative (NOT Neoconservative, but the real thing; we haven't had one as President since Eisenhower, although Ron Paul tried to get the message out!).

Is it acceptable for me to continue to post on this website? Do I face the possibility that Metalman or Lukester or some of the other enlightened souls here will find my house in Mississippi and stone me to death for disagreeing with them? Or perhaps they will ask Jeff to help them obtain a nuke and simply turn the Magnolia State to glass?:eek:

[BrianL]

Re: Is Al Jazeeraa anti USA?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evoluti...nd_fact#Theory

I'm fine with people being anti-evolution, but please don't attack it based on the use of the word theory. This isn't productive to your arguement.

Public schools should teach what is scientifically relevant to our world. Evolution can be observed (and is critical) in many fields ranging from agroculture to medical to ecology. Failing to expose students to this would reduce their potential to compete in the global market in these areas.

If people don't want their children exposed to evolution, they can send their children to private schools or teach them at home; there are plenty of options.

[Basil]

Re: Is Al Jazeeraa anti USA?

I don't see TV media in the US do much in the way of self criticism e.g. Fox News, CNN, ABC, CBS or NBC --- show me any degree of self criticism there.

Does anybody on this thread know Arabic well enough to be able to provide an effective evaluation of al-Jazeera? I see most of the criticism of al-Jazeera as a response to the shock that the West has experienced when a completely alternative news organization becomes an international force. Al-Jazeera was one of the first to break the western media hegemony and that has raised on outcry.

I do know Arabic and have often found it rather entertaining to switch back and forth between al-Jazeera, CNN International, FOX and al-Arabiyyah, etc. I have not done a scientific statistical analysis, but I would say that al-Jazeera is less addicted to its own biases than fox, but a bit more so than the BBC. Contrary to popular opinion in the West, al-Jazeera has a very wide range of perspectives, from Yusuf Qaradawi and Ramadan Buti, the leading Sunni Muslim scholar in Syria, to Hasan Hanafi, a very liberal Egyptian scholar. The overall perspective is heavily influenced by the more mild form of the Muslim Brotherhood, which is actually far more secular than most realize. Some programs do, however, offer a very perspective. I have even seen very pro-Israeili zionists interviewed on al-Jazeera defending the Israeli position vis-a-vis palestine. Yes the interviews did get contentious, but nothing nearly as obnoxious as Oreilly.

[karim0028]

Re: Is Al Jazeeraa anti USA?

Does anybody on this thread know Arabic well enough to be able to provide an effective evaluation of al-Jazeera? I see most of the criticism of al-Jazeera as a response to the shock that the West has experienced when a completely alternative news organization becomes an international force. Al-Jazeera was one of the first to break the western media hegemony and that has raised on outcry.

I do know Arabic and have often found it rather entertaining to switch back and forth between al-Jazeera, CNN International, FOX and al-Arabiyyah, etc. I have not done a scientific statistical analysis, but I would say that al-Jazeera is less addicted to its own biases than fox, but a bit more so than the BBC. Contrary to popular opinion in the West, al-Jazeera has a very wide range of perspectives, from Yusuf Qaradawi and Ramadan Buti, the leading Sunni Muslim scholar in Syria, to Hasan Hanafi, a very liberal Egyptian scholar. The overall perspective is heavily influenced by the more mild form of the Muslim Brotherhood, which is actually far more secular than most realize. Some programs do, however, offer a very perspective. I have even seen very pro-Israeili zionists interviewed on al-Jazeera defending the Israeli position vis-a-vis palestine. Yes the interviews did get contentious, but nothing nearly as obnoxious as Oreilly.

I was born and raised in the states (Midwest), lived in saudi, parents are from Egyptian origins. Speak Arabic fluently....

For my information i find that i go to multiple sources.... For Middle East material (especially ME, as it is the most divisive on each side and you could practically split the news coverage with a knife) i read Aljazeera and watch it on satellite. I also attempt to take the opposing view and read Haaretz, BBC, etc.... Honestly, both news sources put our US sources to shame....

Whenever i travel to Egypt (BTW, dont trust egyptian media as far as i can throw them) i find that a 5 year old kid in Egypt knows more about whats going on in the world than some of my colleagues at work.... This is not an exaggeration or a joke... Dead serious.. Middle school kids over there could give a college kid here a run for their money.... I think this is owed to news sources like Aljazeera.

Aljazeera seems to bring the reality of the news vs the bullshit that passes for news here in the states. I really respect them and their coverage. Every piece i have seen them do has been well documented and with sources as well as opposing views. But, to be fair as well, i find more criticism of Israel in the Haaretz than i do on CNN or any other major news source... While CNN or Fox are waxing poetic about Israel i find the Haaretz actually using challenging arguments and providing some real coverage as well.... Absolutely amazes me that while a couple hundred folks are dying a day in Iraq or Afghanistan (many innocents) FOX or CNN will show you nothing but US tanks and soldiers shaking hands with little kids.... The ultimate propaganda machine if ive ever seen one...

Bottom line i watch CNN for entertainment with my morning coffee; BBC for slightly more entertaining but somewhat more serious news, read iTulip for economic news, Aljazeera and alot of times Haaretz (i like to analyze my news sources especially for ME stuff) for ME news, and couldn't even tell you what channel FOX is on....

[Guest]

Re: Is Al Jazeeraa anti USA?

Here's an early hominid yearning to be rehabilitated to the family of mankind. :rolleyes:

BRACHIOSAURUS_CALIFORNIENSIS_MAJORIS.jpg.jpg

[billstew]

Is Al Jazeeraa anti USA? -- Arabic vs English networks, it depends...

Is Al Jazeeraa anti USA?

It is a matter of 2 different AJC networks: Arabic vs English

AJE: English Net
AJ: Arabic Net
AJC: Corporate Entity

Even though NYC and LAX would have to be totally obliterated for AJE to be available in the US -- AJE is far too American Imperialist for my taste. It has yet to equal the morally ambiguous so called moral high ground of BBC World...

AJ itself is more reasonably placed as far as being pro-US or pro-Israel -- it offsets (and must offset)

• VOA Arabic
• VOA Persian
• BBC Arabic
• BBC Persian

but must also offset

• DW Arabic
• France 24 Arabic